Washington, July 18: US President Barack Obama on Sunday urged Americans to avoid making inflammatory rhetoric after the killing of three police officers in the state of Louisiana.

In a speech delivered from the White House on the shooting in Baton Rouge, Obama said that, though divisions exist in the country, everyone should now "focus on words and actions that can unite this country rather than divide it further".

Three police officers were killed and three others were wounded in a shooting incident in Baton Rouge on Sunday. This is the second major incident of police killings that have occurred in the US in the past weeks. On July 7, a black gunman killed five police officers and wounded nine others in Dallas, Texas, Xinhua news agency reported.

The two incidents were preceded by the killings of two black men by police officers, one in Baton Rouge and another in St. Paul, Minnesota. The incidents triggered off widespread black protests against police brutality and racial discrimination in the country.

The motive of the latest police killing remains unclear as the investigation is ongoing. The shooter has been identified as Gavin Long, 29-year-old black male from Kansas City, Missouri.

With the mind on the upcoming national conventions to be held by the Republican and Democratic parties to select their nominees for this year's presidential race, Obama said that the "political rhetoric tends to be more overheated than usual".